As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Wednesday, 5 April 2017

SURAT: The hinterland of Vyara, which is bestowed with nature's beauty, seems to have become the second home of masked shrike. This migratory bird, which breeds in Europe with a sizeable population in eastern Iraq and western Iran, is mainly found in northeast Africa. But for the first time, this little bird has been spotted in Vyara in Tapi district, thousands of miles away from Northeast Africa.

Dr Hiren Bharti, an Ayurvedic doctor from Buhari in Vyara, who is an avid wildlife photographer, was at the holy land of adivasis at Govaldev in Kanjan village near Vyara when he spotted masked shrike. Dr Bharti told TOI, "I saw this bird resting on a branch of a tree. I have captured so many birds in this area, but this was something rare and which I had never seen before. I immediately started clicking shots of this rare little bird, without knowing what species it was." Continued